96.34 Hours

The number in the title of this post? That is the number of hours I spent at NASA Ames Research Park over the course of the last two weeks. Not only was I there every weekday, but I went in for a bit last Sunday, today (Saturday) and will go in tomorrow. I am doing my best to get as much experimental data in before I have to write up my abstract, poster, and paper, of which, the first two are due on Monday (the 20th!) by midnight...

And of course, I don't really want to write the abstract or finish my poster, so this post is one glorious form of procrastination. I have been majorly procrastinating on this project, partially because it feels to much like school (a 10 page research paper?!) and I don't feel like I have enough data to draw conclusions. What do they expect, I've only been here for 6 weeks! 

So, I decided to tell you about non-NASA stuff, to take a break for a moment. When my parents were visiting, on morning on my way to work, what did my and dad and I see? ....an older couple walking their goose! Yes, I am telling the truth, they were walking with what looked to be a Canadian goose in between them, prodding it along with a stick. It was quite funny and pretty much made my day that Tuesday. 

Another interesting observation about this area (and also tells you how much I have adapted to Seattle): There are so many SUVs and big trucks around here. Now, I'm used to them in Ellensburg, because they usually serve a purpose as a farm truck or for hauling things, but I was very surprised to find so many in a state that is striving to be green and save energy. (On another note, there are these really cool stickers that let single-passenger cars use the diamond lane if they are hybrid cars that pass a clean air emissions test. There are so many days when I wished I had a Prius) The following are a few pics from my phone that I couldn't resist snapping when I saw these trucks. These are both trucks that have been jacked up and ride real high off the ground. In Ellensburg, we'd call them red-neck trucks, but I'm not sure what you'd call them here....

Something fun Alina and I did today was travel to the Willow Glen farmers market. I was kind of expecting a market like Fremont's in Seattle, but this was surprisingly like the one in Ellensburg. There were local, fresh-picked fruit and veggies, flowers, handmade jewelry, a guy singing classics with his guitar, a local bakery and a local jam/jelly maker. 

It was pleasantly uncrowded, and we purchased some delicious fruit. 

Here is a picture of part of the market, this was only about 2/3 of the booths. I forgot to bring my camera, so this is a shot from my phone. 

Well, I'm going to leave procrastination station now, eat some ice cream and get back to work. Before bed I am determined to have a 250 word abstract written and emailed to my mentor!

Also, funniest thing I've seen at NASA, this is a sign in the bathroom in the cafeteria area. Jesus reminding people to wash well with his "Repent! Wash your germs away!" sign.